News of the death of Vladimir Kirillovich Molchanov came on May 11 late at night. He was definitely joking: “Everything is as it should be – after midnight.” The legendary TV presenter turned 75 years old last October. He had been seriously ill recently and didn’t want to communicate, not wanting to seem weak to anyone. He left without lowering his head with dignity. How did you live….
He had exceptional charisma. Even after a short communication with Molchanov, a person becomes an eternal admirer of him, experiencing enormous sympathy and respect for him.
The common saying “we all come from childhood” is actually true. Volodya Molchanov was born into a unique family. His father, Kirill Molchanov, was one of the most famous composers of the Soviet era and was director of the Bolshoi Theater for several years. The composer of eight operas and numerous vocal cycles and film music, he was also known as a librettist (“There are a lot of lonely men…” – remember?). The Molchanovs lived near the Bolshoi and therefore had at home a kind of secular intellectual salon.
As a child, Vovka sat in the arms of the entire Soviet elite, grew up among the real creative intelligentsia and “absorbed culture” – this became his nature. An incredibly cultured and well-read athlete (he was the USSR champion among youth in doubles tennis), he could have become a symbol of the majors of the 1970s, but he turned out to be a rare workaholic. Having studied the complex Dutch language at the Faculty of Philology, he worked for thirteen years at the APN, where he was its editor, its correspondent in the Netherlands, and an interpreter during official meetings. Then fate itself gave him the most difficult but rewarding topic: he began to engage in journalistic investigations of Nazi crimes and even published a book on this topic.
However, his love affair with television did not begin for long. He had all the data, including a bright television appearance, but the problem was something else: the famous sports commentator Anna Dmitrievna, his sister on his mother’s side, already worked at Central Television, and at that time they tried to avoid such close family ties on television. Chance helped: after a joint trip to the United States, Leonid Kravchenko himself invited him to work. They say that he saw in him a person who would host a successful program – it was about “Vzglyad”. But here too fate decided in its own way. Vladimir Kirillovich always proudly said that his program “Before and After Midnight” was broadcast six months before “Vzglyad”. It had an explosive effect.
“I remember running home just in time to start the program or at least to watch the plot from it,” recalls Nikita Shevtsov, deputy head of the Department of International Journalism at MGIMO, where Vladimir Molchanov has taught in recent years. “The world has just opened up to us!” He introduced us to foreign artists, talked about immigrants – an essentially taboo topic, and arranged some great on-air interviews. By the way, Vladimir Kirilovich made a great contribution to the theory of journalism – he wrote articles on sports journalism for publications of our department, and conveyed his invaluable television experience to students. They adored him.
…Vladimir Molchanov agreed to give his last interview to his student Nikoleta Sukhinskaya, conducted it for the Moscow Evening, and it was published shortly after the anniversary of the Master, last fall.
“My assistant calculated that I had given about 10,000 interviews in my life, including radio, television, newspaper and other interviews,” Vladimir Kirilovich said then with some astonishment.
Molchanov considered Yuri Rost, the famous photographer with whom they had been friends for many years, and the Dutch publicist Willem Oltmans, as his mentors in journalism.
On television, where, in theory, as in any creative team, there is always a place for envy and intrigue, Molchanov was treated as a sacred subject. Everything about him was so transparent and real that they simply loved him and admired his professionalism, brilliance, eternal desire to learn something new and always achieve the truth.
Despite his amazing brightness, Molchanov turned out to be a monogamous man. He was in love with his wife, Chata (Consuelo Seguro was a Spanish woman of Cuban descent) since his student years, literally from the first meeting in the philology department. He suffered her departure painfully, lost a lot of weight, but kept working and teaching. In March of this year, her daughter Anya, named after her beloved sister Anna, died. It was a blow that the great TV presenter could not survive.
…In his last interview, he returned several times to the topic of accidents in human destiny.
– Happy accidents, like misfortune, are always nearby. “My most memorable and favorite pieces of television are also often an accident,” he mused.
Maybe there is something to this, but one could argue. Serendipity – yes, but also great professionalism, great journalistic concern, leading to the search for something new, purity of the soul, the desire to change the world – all this gave us a miracle like Vladimir Molchanov. It is difficult to say the word “was” in its application to him. There – in the soul and memory.
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Vladimir Molchanov (October 7, 1950 – May 11, 2026) – famous TV and radio presenter and journalist. Author and host of the TV show “Before and After Midnight”; Member of the Russian Television Academy since 1994. In 2025, V. Molchanov discovered a star at the foot of the Ostankino TV Tower.
My condolences
Mikhail Shvedkoy, Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for International Cultural Cooperation:
– Vladimir Kirillovich Molchanov was the embodiment of the intelligence of Soviet and then Russian television. He was truly a great TV presenter and had a special ‘lineage’. All programs of Vladimir Molchanov were distinguished by their nobility. Whatever he showed, whatever he talked about – about everyday life or about artistic phenomena – all this is permeated with amazing television aristocracy.
Yuri Rost, writer, journalist:
– Woe! The wonderful and respected man Volodya Molchanov has passed away. A talented and intelligent Russian intellectual, an ethical journalist, a brilliant TV presenter, an honest writer and my great friend. This loss is huge and cannot be compensated at all….
Georgy Cherdantsev, sports commentator, TV presenter, member of the Russian Television Academy:
—For Soviet and Russian television viewers, Vladimir Kirillovich Molchanov has always been a model of intelligence: quiet, unassuming, with an insinuating voice. In fact, this is only one part of Vladimir Kirillovich…. In life, he was quite a fiery man, because he played sports almost professionally. Sincere condolences to everyone who knew Vladimir Kirilovich, his relatives, friends, acquaintances and many of his students.